The awards, sponsored by Visa Europe, have grown to become a highlight of the contactless industry’s calendar, and are attracting an even greater number of entrants each year.

“2009 was a pretty tough year for many businesses, so it was encouraging to see so many developments in the contactless arena over the past 12 months,” says Karen Brindley, Managing Director, Krowne Communications (UK) Ltd. “Both the quality and the quantity of awards entries have improved, showing the industry is continuing to aim for ambitious targets.”

The 2010 awards saw entrants from a record number of countries. “The global appeal of contactless is evident in the number of entries we had from countries such as the US, India, Finland, Austria, France and the UK,” says Contactless Intelligence Director, Susan Hicks.

The dinner followed the fourth annual Contactless Intelligence conference. “We had some pretty lively discussions around some of the industry’s hottest topics, highlighting that the industry is continuing to make progress – but should never become complacent,” says C-IQ editor, Wendy Atkins.

This year’s awards finalists were shortlisted during the first quarter of 2010. “The focus of the Monkey Awards is on the organizations that make contactless technology a reality, recognizing that real-world deployments come as the result of the commitment and hard work of pioneering organizations that take a punt on the technology,” says Karen Brindley. “Everyone knows the technology works. What we’re interested in is how that technology is successfully put into action in the real world.”

The 2010 Monkey Awards finalists were:

• In Restaurant Dining: YO! Sushi, Aramark, Baxter Storey, EAT;
• High Throughput Beverage:Pret A Manger, Caffè Nero, AMT Coffee, Coca-Cola vending for Winter Olympics;
• High Throughput Food: EAT, Subway, Pret A Manger, CRUSSH;
• Competitive advantage through technology: AMT Coffee, Wright Express (Sheetz NFC trial in petrol stations), ViVOtech (Citibank NFC trial), Morehead State University (Eagle Cards);
• NFC in the High Street: Zapa Technology (NFC loyalty stickers), e24 (NFC trial in farm shop), La Caixa (Sitges NFC trial), ViVOtech (Citibank NFC trial);
• Health/Lifestyle/Entertainment: Austrian Institute of Technology (NFC health monitoring), City of Oulu (NFC meals for the elderly), Ricoh Arena, Caffè Nero;
• Public Concern: Metric Group (Hillingdon First Card), City of Oulu (NFC attendance at schools), City of Oulu (NFC timetabling for students), Bracknell Forest (e+citizen card)
• Transportation: Translink (contactless ticketing, Northern Ireland), RBS (open contactless EMV payments on buses), O2 (NFC ticketing in Pilsen), mBlox (mobile ticketing on Arriva buses);
• Trailblazing and Innovation: Rfinity (Brigham Young University), Monext (Smart Park), ITN International (Mobile World Congress NFC trial), Sagem Orga (NFC key fobs).

“Our team of judges had a pretty hard task in some of these categories as there was stiff competition between the finalists,” says Wendy Atkins.

The prizes awarded during the awards evening went to:

• In Restaurant Dining: Baxter Storey (UK);
• High Throughput Beverage: Coca-Cola vending for winter Olympics (Canada);
• High Throughput Food: Subway (UK);
• Competitive advantage through technology: ViVOtech- Citibank NFC trial (India);
• NFC in the High Street: La Caixa (Spain);
• Health/Lifestyle/Entertainment: Ricoh Arena (UK);
• Public Concern: city of Oulu – NFC timetabling for students (Finland);
• Transportation: O2 (Czech Republic);
• Trailblazing and Innovation: Brigham Young University/Rfinity (US).

Following the tradition of earlier awards evenings, Visa also presented the annual Visa payWave Award for Best Customer Experience. This year’s prize went to Pret A Manger.

“This year’s awards demonstrates the great progress in contactless payment technology that has been made in the last twelve months. It’s great to se the growing numbers of retailers, transportation companies and even local authorities embracing contactless technology”, said Mark Austin, Head of Contactless for Visa Europe.

Master of Ceremonies, Mark Jones, led the awards ceremony and presented the prizes.

“After a testing 2009, the industry is getting ready for a year of major developments, putting contactless into the hands of more citizens,” says Krowne’s CEO, Steve Atkins. “As this year’s awards highlight, the technology can be successfully used for a broad mix of applications ranging from payments and transport to care for the elderly and information provision. Contactless Intelligence is looking forward to a year that could be pivotal for the industry.”

The 2010 Monkey Awards judges were:

• Wendy Atkins – Contactless Intelligence
• Nav Bains –  GSMA
• Paul Chamberlain – Association of Convenience Stores
• Dominique Descolas – Veolia Transport
• Tim Jefferson –  The Human Chain
• Lewis Nolan – Visa Europe
• Randy Vanderhoof – Smart Card Alliance
• Samee Zafar – Edgar Dunn

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Notes to editors

About Krowne Communications

Krowne Communications is a specialized B2B PR agency. It was founded in Munich, Germany, in 2000, and is now headquartered in Berlin, Germany. Along with its UK company, Krowne Communications (UK), it offers agency services developed specifically to fit the requirements of major organizations operating in the high-tech world of security applications and identification. The company also develops and manages marketing communications projects for special interest groups and companies.  It has pioneered the concept of marketing-oriented partner programs and digital PR integrated Web 2.0 media broadcast channels – through the Krowne Online Broadcast Network (KOBN).

These B2B channels offer a revolutionary approach to nearly all marketing communication needs. Using the extensive industry network it has created over its lifetime, Krowne brings together the most important market players to communicate the developments within dedicated markets, to communicate the latest innovations and to demonstrate products using video and audio broadcasting. The KOBN platforms include Contactless-intelligence.tv, Security-news.tv and TECHevent.tv.

About Contactless-intelligence.tv

Contactless-intelligence.tv is the contactless cards industry’s first and only podcast and video broadcast channel. It is operated by Contactless Intelligence (CI) – an creative marketing platform for contactless technologies and applications which uses web 2.0 to deliver the latest industry news and views via a variety of media including podcasts and weekly news feeds.

For more information, visit www.contactless-intelligence.tv